Double Dip Dilemma: A Cozy Mystery (Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book 5) (5 page)

I looked up from the cash register as Stormi flew to the front of the shoppe to peer out the window. “What’s going on?”

Before I could get the last word out of my mouth, Stormi marched out the door. I ran to the window to see what had her in such a tizzy. And there it was. Ol’ Charlie was sitting in his usual spot and Sandra Morgan was standing over him giving him what for…or so it appeared. Of course, Charlie didn’t seem in the least bit dazed as he took a toke from his cigar.

I stood glued to the spot as I watched Stormi walk up on them. Sandra and Stormi talked over Charlie who continued to look out over the street as if they weren’t there. I had to chuckle. Here were two squabbling chickens standing right over him and it was as if they weren’t there. I was so entranced by the spectacle across the street I was startled when my door chime rang and Trixie entered.

Trixie pointed out the window. “What the heck is going on over there? I do believe Charlie is rather enjoying the attention.”

I nodded my head as I kept an eye on the three. “No doubt. Evidently Mrs. Morgan found out that Charlie told police he saw her steer directly into the parked car, when she said she had no control over the steering.”

Trixie nodded. “Aha. The old coot’s got an eagle eye for sure.”

We continued to watch and soon after Sandra Morgan left and Stormi walked back into the shoppe where Trixie and I had decided to take a seat with Winchester in Trixie’s lap.

Stormi walked through the door and said, “You probably lost a customer…and Charlie wants a cup of coffee with cream.”

“Don’t leave us hanging girl, what was the commotion about?” Trixie asked.

Stormi poured coffee into a paper cup. “She told Charlie he was mistaken, that she wasn’t deliberately trying to steer the car into the SUV. She said she was simply trying to get the steering to work by moving it back and forth.”

I got up from my chair and moved behind the counter. “That does make sense.”

Stormi put down the coffee cup. “Really?” She shook her head. “Nope, I think she’s lying through her teeth.”

All of a sudden we heard sirens. “Now what?” Stormi exclaimed as she put the creamer in the coffee.

An ambulance parked right outside the shoppe and two medics jumped out. The three of us stood frozen at the window. Even Winchester placed his two front paws on the window to look outside.

“Oh no, they’re going into Bruce’s office!” I exclaimed. My heart raced. Please don’t let anything happen to my friends. I was about to run out when Trixie grabbed my arm and pointed. The medics were helping a woman walk to the back of the ambulance. It was Sandra Morgan. Bruce and Paige were walking behind them.

We came out of my shoppe and walked over to Bruce and Paige. Stormi carried Charlie’s cup of coffee.

“What happened?” I asked.

“She came in the building and said she wasn’t feeling well,” Paige explained. “We had her sit down in one of the chairs in the waiting area and she almost passed out so I called an ambulance.”

One of the medics came over to Bruce and said they were taking her to the hospital to be checked out. After the ambulance pulled away Charlie yelled from across the street. “You got my coffee?”

Stormi looked at us. “Nothing deters that man from his coffee.” She crossed the street with Charlie’s coffee.

I turned to Bruce and Paige. “What do you think happened?”

Bruce leaned against the building and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not sure. Hopefully she wasn’t poisoned.”

“Why does your brain go there?” Paige asked. “Maybe her blood sugar was low and she got woozy. There could be a number of simple explanations.”

Trixie wasn’t as convinced. “Yes, but you add in the deal with the car accident and now she’s sick…what’s the kids say nowadays…it sounds hinky.”

Stormi came up behind us and waved the air in front of her face. “Maybe it was the aroma of Charlie’s cigars. Even I’m feeling a little peaked after getting a snout full.”

Trixie agreed. “Yes those things are pungent. But surely it wouldn’t make her almost pass out.”

We all agreed and decided to table the discussion as it was time to open my shoppe and Bruce had clients coming in. However, when Sammy came in for her shift after school both Stormi and I pounced on her for any information on Jeremy’s mother. Even Paige raced over from Bruce’s office when she saw Sammy.

Stormi cornered Sammy in the back as she put on her Frozen Scoop apron. “What happened to Jeremy’s mother?”

Paige and I gathered around her. “Still don’t know. They’re running blood tests. They gave her fluids at the hospital to flush out her system, and she’s home now.”

“Are they thinking she was poisoned?” Paige asked.

Sammy shook her head. “Don’t know until the tests come back.”

“This is getting stranger by the minute,” Paige remarked.

I wasn’t sure what to think. We still didn’t know the test results, but like Trixie alluded too…if it walks and talks like a duck. Fortunately we didn’t have to wait long before we knew the outcome of the blood tests. Around 6:30, Colton, Jeremy and his little brother Joshua entered the shoppe to see Sammy.

The last few customers left the shoppe and when they did Stormi rushed over to their table. “Jeremy, how is Sandra? Did you find out what happened to her today?”

Leave it to Stormi to be subtle. Jeremy didn’t seem to mind.

“They found an abnormal amount of sleeping pills in her system. She said she only takes one at night and doesn’t know how that many got into her system. The doctor said it wasn’t enough to kill her or anything like that.”

I walked over to the group sitting at the table. “But why would someone do that?”

Sammy spoke up. “Maybe to scare her?”

Sammy had a good point. Perhaps someone wasn’t trying to actually hurt her but to scare her. But why? Jeremy had his head down while Joshua looked over the ice cream in the case.

“Joshua, would you like some ice cream?” I asked.

“Yes please,” he answered. “I’d like one dip of Coffee in a sugar cone.”

“Coming right up.” I looked over at the group who remained huddled at the table talking about the recent events. Then I looked at Joshua who didn’t seem in the least interested at what was going on thank goodness. I could see how Sandra Morgan doted on the boy. He was soft spoken with gentle manners. Of course in a few years when puberty hit that could possibly change.

Joshua handed me a couple of dollar bills and I gave him his change. He smiled and took a lick of his ice cream.

As I walked over to the group still discussing what occurred that day the door opened and a woman said, “Your father thought you boys might be here.”

Joshua jumped up and ran to his mother. Jeremy stood up and took his cell phone out of his pocket. “Yep, my phone’s dead. Sorry Mom.”

Jeremy introduced us to his mother. She was decked out in a cream-colored A-line dress and her neck was bathed in large costume jewelry that sparkled amber and orange. When she’d reach up to pull her black hair behind her ear, the three bracelets she wore on her wrist jingled. She definitely looked like she fit more in New York than here. Also, I couldn’t see her crawling under a vehicle to mess with the brakes or steering. That ruled her out, at least in my mind.

Patsy turned to her sons and said, “I’ll be leaving for New York in a few days and wondered if you boys would like to go with me to Stone Mountain for an overnight trip. I’ve booked a little cabin for us. We’ll cook out, hike, all the outdoorsy things you like to do.”

“Sounds great!” Joshua squealed.

Patsy headed to the door. “I’ve already okayed it with your Dad. I’ll pick you boys up tomorrow morning at 7.”

“Ugh, why so early Mom?” Jeremy complained.

Patsy smiled. “Don’t worry; you can sleep on the way there. Now you better get home and pack. Nice to meet you ladies. I’ll be sure and stop in and actually partake of your goodies next time I’m in town.”

Patsy Morgan seemed like a nice woman, not bitter at all. But sometimes first impressions can be deceiving. I would find out that it would be so in this case.

*****

Paige and Bruce decided to have one last cookout at their place on Sunday evening before the winter cool down marched across northern Georgia. Stormi and I brought several dishes, including broccoli salad, baked beans, coleslaw, a veggie tray and chips. I brought chocolate chip cookies sandwiched between scoops of ice cream, something new I was trying out in the shoppe.

Bruce was busy with the hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill when Brandon, Winchester and I arrived. Brandon walked over to see if he needed any help while I tied Winchester’s long lead to the handle of my chair. The lead was long enough so he could visit with everyone.

“Is Sammy going to join us?” I asked Paige as she gathered the paper plates and cups.

“She will later,” Paige answered. “She’s at Colton’s right now.”

“Never fear, we are here!” Stormi exclaimed as she and Greg walked through the gate into Bruce and Paige’s backyard. She and Greg both carried large coolers brimming with food bowls covered with aluminum foil.

“Looks like you’re ready to feed an army…or just Bruce,” Paige laughed.

A voice carried across the lawn. “I heard that.”

Paige shrugged. “He has selective hearing. I can be in the same room and tell him to take out the trash and he’ll walk out like I was conversing with the sink.”

We sat down at the long patio table and indulged our hungry bellies until we could consume no more. It was the last barbecue of the year and we wanted to take full advantage of it. Afterwards Bruce lit the wood in the fire pit and we sat around the flickering flames watching the evening sun as it was swallowed on the horizon. Only a few minutes later Sammy and Colton showed up with interesting news.

Paige directed Colton to the food now wrapped up on the counter or in the refrigerator. Sammy plopped down in one of the lawn chairs. “Well the mystery’s been solved.”

Stormi straightened in her chair. “Wait…what?”

We all turned to look at Sammy. “Colton heard from Jeremy.”

We all waited with baited breath, expect for Stormi. “Was it her…I just knew it was her…it was her wasn’t it?”

Sammy gave her a questioning look. “Who?”

I thought Stormi would blow a cork. “Who? Sandra Morgan! She planned the whole thing to get Jeremy out of the house.”

Sammy shook her head.

Stormi was confused. “Huh? Well crimony! I’m always wrong.”

“Don’t leave us twisting in the wind daughter,” Paige piped in. “Who did it?”

Colton emerged from the house and sat down next to Sammy. “Joshua.”

“Who?” Stormi blurted out.

Colton took a bite of his hamburger so Sammy answered. “You know, Jeremy’s little brother.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. That sweet young boy. “No…why in the world?”

Sammy explained the situation to us. Seems that Patsy Morgan had an inkling that Joshua was the culprit. Which is why she decided to take the boys on the weekend camping trip to Stone Mountain Park. She knew her boys pretty well, and even though they hadn’t lived with her the last few years, she kept in touch with them almost every day. She knew Joshua was into cars and that he’d been studying mechanics, something that he didn’t share with his father who wasn’t into that sort of thing. He was more into sports and computers, which didn’t interest Joshua, so he kept his extracurricular activities to himself.